Washington and the landscape of fear

City and Society

Volumn 18, Issue 1, 2006, Pages 7-30

  Longstreth, Richard ^a  

^a GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

LANDSCAPE PLANNING; PUBLIC SPACE;

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA; NORTH AMERICA; UNITED STATES; WASHINGTON [DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA];

EID: 33745394624     PISSN: 08930465     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1525/city.2006.18.1.7     Document Type: Article

References (186)

1. The historical observations made in this essay draw from a wide range of scholarly literature on the built environment, yet little of this work focuses on the constructing or use of public space. The late Spiro Kostof was a leader among architectural historians in his holistic approach to analyzing physical, functional, and symbolic facets of urban space. See his The City Assembled: The Elements of Urban Form Though History (Boston: Bulfinch Press, 1992).
2. Zeynep Celik, et al., eds. Streets: Critical Perspectives on Public Space (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994) is a testimonial anthology to Kostof prepared by former students and colleagues.
3. Another major contribution to this sphere of inquiry has been made by historian Mary P. Ryan's analysis of spatial uses in New York, New Orleans, and San Francisco: Civic Wars: Democracy and Public Life in the American City during the Nineteenth Century (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997).
4. My aim in this essay is to underscore the importance of understanding spaces that seem so much a part of our lives that they are generally taken for granted. Much more research is needed on the historical aspects introduced here before they can be analyzed in depth. A parallel narrative exists with the emergence of the residential square at the turn of the nineteenth century and its subsequent transformation from private to public space. This subject, too has received little of the attention it deserves save an excellent case study, Phebe S. Goodman, The Garden Squares of Boston (Lebanon, N.H.: University Press of New England, 2003).
5. Another very useful exploration, focusing on the Spanish colonial legacy of Central America, is Setha M. Low, On the Plaza: The Politics of Public Space and Culture (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2000).
6. For background see Anthony S. Pitch, The Burning of Washington: The British Invasion of 1814 (Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1998, esp. Chapter 9
7. William Seale, The President's House: A History, 2 vols. (Washington: White House Historical Association and National Geographic Society, 1986), chapters 5-6
8. idem, The White House: The History of an American Idea (Washington: American Institute of Architects Press and White House Historical Association, 1992), 57, 59-61, 63-64, 66-67, 69
9. and William C. Allen, History of the United States Capitol: A Chronicle of Design, Construction, and Politics (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2001), Chapter 3.
10. Basic texts on the subject include Horst de la Croix, Military Considerations in City Planning Fortifications (New York: George Braziller, 1972) 39-57
11. and Christopher Duffy, The Fortress in the Age of Vauban and Frederick the Great, 1660-1789, 2 vols. (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1984-85), Vol. II.
12. See also Kostof, City Assembled, 28-39
13. and James D. Tracy, ed., City Walls: The Urban Enceinte in Global Perspective (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2000).
14. Among the extensive literature on nineteenth-century coastal defenses in the U.S., useful surveys are provided by Willard B. Robinson, American Forts: Architectural Form and Function (Fort Worth: Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, and Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1977), Chapter 3
15. Robert M. Browning, III, Two if By Sea: The Development of American Coastal Defense Policy (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1983), 3-77
16. and Emanuel Raymond Lewis, Seacoast Fortifications of the United States: An Introductory History (Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1970).
17. Excellent analysis of the pursuit of security through gated communities is afforded by Setha Low, Behind the Gates: Life, Security, and the Pursuit of Happiness in Fortress America (New York: Routledge, 2004).
18. For background, see Helen Tangires, Public Markets and Civic Culture in Nineteenth-Century America (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003), Part I
19. Blanche Linden-Ward, Landscapes of Memory and Boston's Mount Auburn Cemetery (Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1989), Chapter 6
20. and David Charles Sloane, The Last Great Necessity: Cemeteries in American History (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991), Chapter 2. Concerning the New England meeting house lot, see n. 12 below.
21. Paul Venable Turner, Campus: An American Planning Tradition (New York: Architectural History Foundation, and Cambridge: MIT Press, 1984) provides the pathbreaking analysis on the subject. Concerning colonial patterns, see Chapter 1
22. concerning Princeton, see pp. 47-50. Openness did not always mean the public was welcome. Early women's colleges such as Vassar had grounds that were assiduously guarded. On the other hand, state colleges, many of which were co-educational at their founding or not long thereafter, were conspicuously accessible as were many small private institutions for males.
23. For background, see Edward M. Riley, "The Independence Hall Group," in Luther D. Eisenhart, ed., Historic Philadelphia from the Founding until the Early Nineteenth Century (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1953), 7-10
24. and Charlene Mires, Independence Hall in American Memory (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002), 10, 14, 17-19, 25-26, 84-85, 92-95, 114-16; quote on p. 25.
25. For additional illustration, see Martin P. Snyder, City of Independence: Views of Philadelphia Before 1800 (New York: Praeger, 1975), pl. 10 and figs. 79, 89, 159, 160, 161.
26. Two valuable period accounts - Joseph Reed, "State House Yard," Register of Pennsylvania 2, no. 15 (28 Oct. 1928), 229-33
27. and Philadelphia in 1830-1 (Philadelphia: E. L. Carey & A. Hart, 1830), [145] - were generously supplied to me by Dell Upton.
28. As can be see in Henry-Russell Hitchcock and William Seale, Temples of Democracy: The State Capitols of the U.S.A. (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1976), 27, 37, 43, and 56.
29. In most studies of building types, little, if any, discussion is devoted to the spaces of which those edifices are an integral part. Important precedent existed in the open siting of the colonial state houses of Maryland and Virginia; see Morris L. Radoff, The State House at Annapolis (Annapolis: Hall of Records Commission, Department of General Services, State of Maryland, 1972), esp. Chapter II
30. and John W. Reps, Tidewater Towns: City Planning in Colonial Virginia and Maryland (Williamsburg: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, and Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1972), esp. pp. 128-31, 163-65.
31. The extensive amount of space Thomas Jefferson allocated for his Capitol in Richmond, Virginia (1785-89), suggest that he may have had other precedents in mind. On the other hand, John Norman's extensive remaking of that space (1850-ca. 1860) may have been an important precedent for Olmsted's Capitol grounds in Washington, discussed in the text below. Concerning the Richmond space, see Mary Wingfield Scott and Louise F. Catterall, Virginia's Capitol Square (Richmond, Va.: Valentine Museum, 1957) 3-7
32. Robert L. Alexander, The Architecture of Maximilian Godefroy (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1974), 120-24
33. and Constance M. Greiff, John Notman, Architect (Philadelphia: Athenaeum of Philadelphia, 1979), 162-63.
34. "Broadway," Broadway Journal, 26 Apr. 1845, 259-60.
35. I am grateful to Dell Upton for providing me with this and other accounts of the Park, especially "Park Row," New-York Mirror, 7 Aug. 1830, 33-34, with me.
36. The importance of this space for public gatherings is noted in his, "Inventing the Metropolis: Civilization and Urbanity in Antebellum New York," in Catherine Hoover Voorsanger and John K. Howat, eds., Art and the Empire City: New York, 1825-1861 (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, and New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000), 11; and figs. 103-04.
37. Valuable scholarly studies focusing on the city hall and its park include Damie Stillman. "New York City Hall: Competition and Execution," Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 23 (Oct. 1964): 129-42
38. Evan W. Cornog, "To Give Character to Our City: New York's City Hall," New York History 69 (Oct. 1988): 389-423
39. Michele H. Bogart, "Public Space and Public Memory in New York's City Hall Park," Journal of Urban History 25 (Jan. 1999): 226-57
40. and Mary P. Ryan, "'A Laudable Pride in the Whole of Us': City Halls and Civic Materialism, American Historical Review 105 (Oct. 2000): 1143-52.
41. The pioneering study in this realm is Edward T. Price, "The Courthouse Square in the American County Seat," Geographical Review 58 (1968): 29-60.
42. Robert E. Veselka, The Courthouse Square in Texas (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2000) affords a more detailed examination.
43. Illustrations of numerous examples can be found in compendia such as Mary M. Ohman, Encyclopedia of Missouri Courthouses (Columbia: University of Missouri-Columbia Extension Division, 1981)
44. and Willard B. Robinson, The People's Architecture: Texas Courthouses, Jails, and Municipal Buildings (Austin: Texas State Historical Association and Center for the Study of Texas History, University of Texas, 1983), chapters II and III.
45. Colonial courthouses, like their English prototypes, were characteristically situated in tight urban environments, facing the market square. Many of these buildings in the Chesapeake region were an exception in their open, rural settings; see Carl R. Lounsbury, The Courthouses of Early Virginia: An Architectural History (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2005).
46. For background, see John D. Cushing, "Town Commons in New England, 1640-1840," Old-Time New England 51 (winter 1961): 86-94
47. David D. Brodeur, "Evolution of the New England Town Common, 1630-1966," Professional Geographer (1967)
48. John R. Stilgoe, "Town Common and Village Green in New England: 1620 to 1981," in Ronald Lee Fleming and Lauri A. Haldeman, On Common Ground: Caring for Shared Land from Town Common to Urban Park (Harvard, Mass.: Harvard Common Press, and Cambridge, Mass.: Townscape Institute, 1981), 7-25
49. Rudy J. Favretti, "The Ornamentation of New England Towns: 1750-1850," Journal of Garden History 2 (Oct.-Dec. 1982): 325-42
50. Joseph S. Wood, The New England Village (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997), esp. 128-33
51. and Thomas J. Campanella, Republic of Shade: New England and the American Elm (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003), Chapter 4.
52. An engaging discussion of the relation between one of the earliest and most fully development town greens and the adjacent college campus is found in Erik Vogt, "Cultivating Types: The Rise and Fall of the Brick Row," in Vincent Scully, et al., Yale in New Haven: Architecture & Urbanism (New Haven: Yale University, 2004), 52-99.
53. The somewhat rural character of Washington's early development has been ascribed to the convictions of Thomas Jefferson; see, for example, C. M. Harris, "Washington's 'Federal City,' Jefferson's 'federal town'," Washington History 12 (spring-summer 2000): 49-53, 160-61. While Jefferson's imprint on the capital was certainly an important one, the later development of the Capitol grounds may well have reflected a much more broadly held viewpoint.
54. Allen, United States Capitol, 160-64, provides a detailed discussion of this phase.
55. See also Harold Kirker, The Architecture of Charles Bulfinch (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1969), 330-31.
56. I am grateful to Pamela Scott for sharing material from her forthcoming article, "'A Gentle Eminence': The Capitol Grounds, 1791-1876," in The Dome, the quarterly of the United States Capitol Historical Society.
57. Bulfinch's 1822 master plan for the grounds, extending to a portion of the Mall, is illustrated in Richard Longstreth, ed., The Mall in Washington, 1791-1991, 1991, reprint ed. (Washington: National Gallery of Art, and New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002), pl. XVIII; see also pls. XLIV and XLV. Bulfinch's scheme elaborated upon one of 1815 prepared by Benjamin Henry Latrobe (pl. XVII).
58. For discussion, see Pamela Scott, "'This Vast Empire': The Iconography of the Mall, 1791-1848," in ibid, 46-47.
59. A useful discussion of this subject is found in Timothy Davis, "Inventing Nature in Washington, D.C.," in Arthur Molella and Joyce Bedi, eds., Inventing for the Environment (Cambridge: MIT Press, and Washington Lemelson Center, Smithsonian Institution, 2003), esp. pp. 39-40.
60. Details of versions of this oft-illustrated plan appear in Longstreth, The Mall in Washington, pls. XI and XIII.
61. For a broad overview, see Kostof, City Assembled, Chapter 3, esp. 152-64.
62. Among the numerous case studies are Michael Dennis, Court & Garden: From the French Hotel to the City of Modern Architecture (Cambridge: MIT Press. 1986), 43-51, 79-89, 125-36
63. Hilary Ballon, The Paris of Henri IV: Architecture and Urbanism (New York: Architectural History Foundation, and Cambridge: MIT Press, 1991), esp. chapters 2, 3, 5
64. Anthony Sutcliffe, Paris: An Architectural History (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993), 20-23, 41-43, 52-55
65. and Iurii Alekseevich Egorov, The Architectural Planning of St. Petersburg: Its Development in the 18th and 19th Centuries, Eric Dluhosch, ed. and trans. (Athens: Ohio University Press, 1969), Part I.
66. The most important precedents in the United States were the central squares of Spanish and French colonial towns, around which the buildings of the government, Church, and sometimes the military were assembled. See John W. Reps, The Making of Urban America: A History of City Planning in the United States (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1965), chapters 2, 3.
67. The most detailed scholarly analyses of these plans are in Scott, "'This Vast Empire'," 47-53
68. and Therese O'Malley, "'A Public Museum of Trees': Mid-Nineteenth Century Plans for the Mall," in Longstreth, The Mall in Washington, 60-74 and pls. XXV-XXVIII
69. and David Schuyler, "The Washington Park and Downing's Legacy to Landscape Design," in George B. Tatum, ed., Prophet with Honor: The Career of Andrew Jackson Downing 1815-1852 (Philadelphia: Athenaeum of Philadelphia, and Washington: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collections, 1989), 291-311.
70. Scholarly accounts of Central Park numerous. Among the most informative are: Elizabeth Barlow and William Alex, Frederick Law Olmsted's New York (New York: Whitney Museum of Art and Praeger, 1972), 17-25; 58-113
71. Laura Wood Roper, FLO: A Biography of Frederick Law Olmsted (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1973), chapters XI-XIII
72. Bruce Kelly, et al., Art of the Olmsted Landscape (New York: New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission and Art Publishers, 1981)
73. Charles E. Beveridge and David Schuyler, eds., The Papers of Frederick Law Olmsted, Volume III, Creating Central Park 1857-1861 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1983)
74. Charles Beveridge and Paul Rocheleau, Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing the American Landscape (New York: Rizzoli, 1995) 45-70
75. Roy Rosenzweig and Elizabeth Blackmar, The Park and the People: A History of Central Park (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1992
76. and David M. Scobey, Empire City: The Making and the Meaning of the New York Landscape (Philadelphia; Temple University Press, 2002), Chapter 7.
77. The Capitol grounds have received less scholarly attention in print than they deserve. See Reps, David C. Streatfield, "The Olmsteds and the Landscape of the Mall," in Longstreth, ed., Mall in Washington, 117-20
78. Beveridge and Rocheleau, Frederick Law Olmsted, Chapter 8
79. and Allen, United States Capitol, 345-59.
80. Detailed analysis is found in an article in progress by Arleyn Levee ("Olmsted's Vision for the U.S. Capitol Grounds"), to whom I owe a debt of gratitude for sharing it with me.
81. Analysis of Olmsted's treatment of park borders warrants further study. The incident over the proposed gates, on the other hand, has been frequently discussed. See, for example, Rosenzweig and Blackmar, The Park and the People, 196-99 (quote on p. 199)
82. Francis R. Kowsky, Country, Park & City: The Architecture and Life of Calvert Vaux (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), 163-64
83. and Robert A. M. Stern, et al., New York 1880: Architecture and Urbanism in the Gilded Age (New York: Monacelli Press, 1999) 98, 102-04, which also notes that Olmsted's former associate, Calvert Vaux, advanced an even more elaborate set of entry arches in 1874.
84. Among the many proposals for Washington's monumental core, the McMillan Plan has received by far the greatest amount of attention from scholars. Among the most recent are: Richard Longstreth, "Continuity and Change on the Mall, 1791-1991"
85. Thomas S. Hines, "The Imperial Mall: The City Beautiful Movement and the Washington Plan of 1901-02"
86. Jon A. Peterson, "The Mall, the McMillan Plan, and the Origins of American City Planning"
87. and Streatfield, "The Olmsteds," in Longstreth, ed. The Mall in Washington, 11-18, 79-100, 100-16, and 117-42, resp.
88. Peterson's thesis, which delineates how the scheme became a springboard for the new field city planning, is fully developed in Jon A. Peterson, The Birth of City Planning in the United States, 1840-1917 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003), Chapter 4.
89. The most copious account, drawing extensively from existing scholarship, but placing the scheme in an international context, is found in Wolfgang Sonne, Representing the State: Capital City Planning in the Early Twentieth Century (Munich: Prestel, 2003), Chapter II.
90. For a sampling of newspaper coverage, see Arthur Cotton Moore, "D.C.'s Bunker Mentality," Washington Post, 8 June 1996, C8
91. Stephen Barr, "New Security Study of Federal Buildings," Washington Post, 28 July 1998, A13
92. Colbert I. King, "A Monument to Denfenselessness," Washington Post, 6 May 2000, A19
93. Arthur Santana, "Barriers to Guard Washington Monument," Washington Post, 10 July 2000, B1, B4
94. Roger K. Lewis, "Plans to Improve Security Should Seek Balance Between Beautification and Fortification," Washington Post, 6 Oct. 2001, H3
95. Benjamin Forgey, "A Plan to Clear Clutter without Sacrificing Security," Washington Post, 3 Nov. 2001, C1, C3
96. Linda Wheeler, "Arts Panel Backs Plans to Guard Smithsonian Museums," Washington Post, 16 Nov. 2001, A11
97. idem, "Bollards Could Enclose Monuments," Washington Post, 11 Jan. 2002, B3
98. idem, "Ugly Barricades on the Way Out," Washington Post, 13 Jan. 2002, C1
99. Spencer S. Hsu, "Video Surveillance Planned on Mall," Washington Post, 22 Mar. 2002, A1, A8
100. idem, "Rules Urged for Surveillance," Washington Post, 23 Mar. 2002, B1, B8
101. idem, "High Court Asks for 2 Street Closings," Washington Post, 25 May 2002, B1, B4
102. Marc Fisher, "Declaring Independence from Fear," Washington Post, 4 July 2002, B1
103. Monte Reel, "Security Design Approved for D.C.," Washington Post, 12 July 2002, B1, B5
104. Benjamin Forgey, "A Welcome Sign that Security Need not Be a Barrier to Beauty," Washington Post, 13 July 2002, C1, C5
105. Jonathan Yardley, "Redesigning Our Obstacle Course," Washington Post, 15 July 2002, C2
106. Spencer S. Hsu, "More Street Restrictions Considered," Washington Post, 10 Aug. 2002, B3
107. Roger K. Lewis, "The Use and Limits of Security Placebo," Washington Post, 24 Aug. 2002, H5
108. Benjamin Forgey, "Public Space, Still under Siege," Washington Post, 10 Sep. 2002, A17, A22
109. Arlo Wagner, "Plans for Pennsylvania Avenue, Pentagon Move Ahead," Washington Times, 6 June 2003, B1, B4
110. Steven Pearlstein, "Use Caution in the Pursuit of Security," Washington Post, 11 June 2004, E1
111. Fred Hiatt, "Capitol Eyesore," Washington Post, 1 Nov. 2004, A21
112. Spencer S. Hsu, "Park Service to Add Mall Security Hits Resistance," 1 Jan. 2005, B1, B4
113. Fred Hiatt, "Jefferson Fenced In," Washington Post, 10 Jan. 2005, A17
114. Michael Z. Wise, "A Capital Offense? New Security Measures May Protect Our Monuments, but They May also Be Turning Washington, D.C., into a City under Siege," Travel + Leisure 34 (Apr. 2004): 188, 190-91
115. "Increasing Jefferson's Isolation," Washington Post, 30 Dec. 2004, A26
116. Catesby Leigh, "A Monumental Task of Security and Aesthetics," Wall Street Journal, 30 June 2005, D8
117. Petula Dvorak, "Washington Monument Subtly Fortified," Washington Post, 1 July 2005, A1, A6
118. and idem, "A Balance of Security, Symbolism," Washington Post, 19 July 2005, B1, B5. In these and the great majority of other accounts cited in the notes below, the press has been sharply critical of such security measures.
119. For an exception, see Petula Dvorak, "Ubiquitous Security Barriers Get a Fashionable Flourish," Washington Post, 29 Jan. 2005, C1, C6.
120. See also U.S. Government Accountability Office, Report to the Chairman, Committee on Government Reform, House of Representatives, "National Mall: Steps identified by Stakeholders Facilitate Design and Approval of Security Enhancements," June 2005 (GAO-05-185?).
121. A useful synopsis of the subject is found in Lisa Benton Short, "Bollards, Bunkers and Barriers: Securing the National Mall in Washington, D.C.," ms., 2005. I am grateful to the author for sharing a copy of this article in progress with me.
122. For a sampling of press accounts, see Stephen C. Fehr, "Architects Envision a Pedestrian Plaza," Washington Post, 3 June 1995, A1, A8
123. idem, "'Town Square' Envisioned for Pennsylvania Avenue," Washington Post, 16 Nov. 1995, A1, A6
124. idem, "Redesign of Pa. Ave. Delayed," Washington Post, 25 Nov. 1995, F3
125. idem, "Panel to Begin Shaping Pennsylvania Avenue Design," Washington Post, 8 Dec. 1995, A 36
126. Benjamin Forgey, "The Street Where We All Live," Washington Post, 16 Dec. 1995, F1, F3
127. Stephen C. Fehr, "Grass Loses Ground on Pennsylvania," Washington Post, 23 Mar. 1996, C1, C4
128. idem, "The Seat of Government?" Washington Post, 12 Apr. 1996, B1, B3
129. idem, "Promoting an Open-Avenue Policy," Washington Post, 18 May 1996, H1, H4
130. idem, "Throwing Pa. Avenue a Curve," Washington Post, 23 May 1996, A1, A23
131. Benjamin Forgey, "Street at a Crossroads," Washington Post, 25 May 1996, C1, C6
132. Roger K. Lewis, "The Case for Reopening Pennsylvania Avenue," Washington Post, 25 May 1996, E1, E6
133. Roger K. Lewis, "Reopening Pennsylvania Avenue: Time to Take Down the Barriers," Washington Post, 4 Oct. 1997, F1, F3
134. John Carl Warnecke, "A Pennsylvania Avenue for the People," Washington Post, 9 Aug. 1998, C2
135. Benjamin Forgey, "Plan Would Reopen Pennsylvania Ave.," Washington Post, 25 Sep. 2000, A1, A12
136. Stephen C. Fehr and David Montgomery, "Fed-Up Merchants Behind Avenue Effort," Washington Post, 1 Oct. 2000, C1, C8
137. Benjamin Forgey, "An Open Letter to the President," Washington Post, 23 Dec. 2000, C1, C5
138. Spencer S. Hsu, "Planners Consider Pennsylvania Avenue Tunnel," Washington Post, 27 July 2001, A1, A19
139. Roger K. Lewis, "A Pennsylvania Avenue Tunnel Would Underline the Street's Symbolic Importance," Washington Post," 11 Aug. 2001, H3
140. Krissan Williams, "More Security, Less Business," Washington Post, 15 Sep. 2001, D1, D3
141. Spencer S. Hsu, "Pa. Avenue Task Force to Suggest Car Tunnel," Washington Post, 30 Sep. 2001, C1, C4
142. idem, "Federal Panel Adopts Design for Pennsylvania Avenue Plaza," Washington Post, 7 June 2002, B1, B2
143. Benjamin Forgey, "America's Avenue Again," Washington Post, 1 Mar. 2003, C1, C5
144. Sylvia Moreno, "Panel Backs Pa. Avenue Redesign," Washington Post, 13 Mar. 2003, B1, B5
145. Benjamin Forgey, "For Pennsylvania Avenue, an Elegant Turn," Washington Post, 9 Sep 2003, C1, C8
146. Monte Reel, "From Tourists to Hard Hats," Washington Post, 15 Jan. 2004, B1, B8
147. Manny Fernandez, "Pennsylvania Ave. Reopened to Pedestrians," Washington Post, 10 Nov. 2004, A1, A12
148. Benjamin Forgey, "Reopened Avenue Is a Shadow of What It Was," Washington Post, 10 Nov. 2004, C1, C10.
149. Press coverage of the project, one of the largest ever to occur to the building, has been modest to say the least. Accounts include Benjamin Forgey, "Capitol Eyes Expansion," Washington Post, 22 Nov. 2000, C1, C11
150. idem, "Capitol Disorientation Center," Washington Post, 25 Nov. 2000, C1, C5
151. Spencer S. Hsu, "Congress Digs Deep for Visitors and Safety," Washington Post, 28 May 2002, B1, B2
152. "The Bunker Mentality," Weekly Standard 9 (3 Nov. 2003)
153. and Spencer S. Hsu and Christopher Lee, "Delays for Capitol Visitor Center," Washington Post, 29 Nov. 2004, A17.
154. To my knowledge, relatively little has been written about the implications of increased security inside buildings of the public and private sectors alike. However in Washington, New York, and some other cities many buildings to which the public once had ready access are now entered only by prior arrangement. See, for example, David W. Dunlap, "So, You Think You Can See a Landmark?" New York Times, 20 Jan. 2006, A16. Recently, when visiting Greensboro, North Carolina, I was intercepted by a security guard on the steps of the downtown post office and told I could not enter the building because I had a camera.
155. See, for example, Michael Grunwald and Juliet Eilperin, "Protection vs. 'The People's House'," Washington Post, 25 July 1998, A9
156. Spencer S. Hsu and Petula Dvorak, "More Street Closings Weighed," Washington Post, 28 Sep. 2001, B1, B8
157. Spencer S. Hsu, "House Ratifies Security Perimeter," Washington Post, 7 Feb. 2003, B2
158. "Security Officials Again Recommend Fencing in Capitol," Washington Post, 1 Apr. 2004, B1, B8
159. Adrienne Washington, "Fencing in Capitol Offends Sense of Freedom," Washington Times, 6 Apr. 2004, B2
160. Sari Horowitz, "Capitol Police Focused on Terror," Washington Post, 4 May 2004, B1, B8
161. "Fortress of Fear," Washington Post, 4 Aug. 2004, A18
162. Sheryl Gay Stolberg, "Safety Precautions Transform Appearance of Capitol Hill," New York Times, 4 Aug. 2004, A11
163. Courtland Malloy, "Freedom's Light Hidden under a Security Blanket," Washington Post, 8 Sep. 2004, B1
164. Jo Becker and Clarence Williams, "Beseiged D.C. Both Restenful and Resigned," Washington Post, 6 Aug. 2004, A1, A8
165. Del Quentin Wilber, "Security Checkpoints, Closures Grow," Washington Post, 6 Aug. 2004, B1, B5
166. and Courtland Milloy, "Freedom's Light Hidden Under a Security Blanket," Washington Post, 8 Aug. 2004, B1.
167. Linda Wheeler, "Panel Backs Underground Visitors' Center at Monument," Washington Post, 8 Feb. 2002, B8
168. Spencer S. Hsu, "Study Backs Underground Center," Washington Post, 1 May 2002, B1, B4
169. Jonathan Yardley, "On the Mall, Entrenched Thinking," Washington Post, 6 May 2002, C2
170. Benjamin Forgey, "Washington's Tunnel Vision for Tourists," Washington Post, 18 May 2002, C1, C5
171. Deborah K. Dietsch, "New Bunker Mentality Will Mar Washington," USA Today, 29 July 2002, 13A
172. Monte Reel, "Washington Monument Security Plan Clears Hurdle," Washington Post, 10 Jan. 2003, B1, B8
173. Catesby Leigh, "Subterranean Blues," Weekly Standard 8 (13 Jan. 2003)
174. Felix Gillette, "Going Down," Washington City Paper, 21 Feb. 2003, 20-23, 25, 27
175. "Controversial Monument Tunnel None of Public's Business, National Park Service Says," National Coalition to Save Our Mall, electronic press release, 29 Apr. 2003
176. Laurent Thomet, "Panel Oks Plan for Tunnel to Monument," Washington Times, 2 May 2003, B4
177. Roger K. Lewis, "Park Service Has a Bad Case of Tunnel Vision on Washington Monument Security," Washington Post, 12 July 2003, F5
178. Monte Reel, "Washington Monument Dispute Resurfaces," Washington Post, 4 Aug. 2003, A1, A6
179. "Underground Center for Mall Decried," National Parks 77 (July-Aug. 2003): 12
180. Monte Reel, "Washington Monument Entry Tunnel Plan Dies," Washington Post, 23 Oct. 2003, A1, A11
181. and "National Coalition to Save Our Mall Calls for Re-Assessment of National Park Service Project in Light of Congressional Action, Outstanding Legal Issues," National Coalition to Save Our Mall, electronic press release, 12 Nov. 2003.
182. Manny Fernandez, "Monument Landscaping Approved," Washington Post, 6 June 2003, B1, B5.
183. The scheme drew sharp criticism from some activists; see Audrey Hudson, "Mall Project Called Damaging, Illegal," Washington Times, 6 Apr. 2004, A6.
184. On the other hand, see Benjamin Forgey, "A Protective Wall that Doesn't Keep Grandeur at Bay," Washington Post, 25 Dec. 2005, N4.
185. A provocative analysis of methods devised to mitigate the effects of nuclear attacks is found in Tom Vanderbilt, Survival City: Adventures among the Ruins of Atomic America (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2002.
186. For a good recent analysis of the subject, see Jared Orsi, Hazardous Metropolis: Flooding and the Urban Ecology in Los Angeles (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003).